Returning Home
by brightlightsinthebigcity
Summary: Set soon after 3x13  Will and Djaq return from the Holy Land a year after Marian's death, but they don't know anything about what has happened. They find life now very different to the one they remember, and with a new threat chioces have to be made
1. Chapter 1

**Returning Home**

**Summary: **(Set soon after 3x13) Will and Djaq return from the Holy Land a year after Marian's death, but they don't know anything about what has happened or about the new members of the gang. They find life now very different to the one they remember, and with a new threat in Nottingham choices have to be made.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood**

Chapter 1

She breathed deeply. She had missed the wild scent of the forest, the autumn leaves crackling underfoot and the quiet noise of busy animals in the trees. Everything was so familiar; it made her heart beat rapidly with excitement. Only a little further, she thought as she hurried impatiently through the forest.

She slid down the slope and violently pulled the lever. A gust of wind brushed past her face as the door swung open, revealing Robin Hood's secret camp. She stepped inside, her hands stroking the smooth wood of the supports. A fire burned gently in the centre of the room. Various bits of clutter covered the floor. On a hook beside one of the bunks hung a bundle of tags, she touched the tiny bow and arrow on them, each one craved by the careful hands of Will Scarlett.

Djaq smiled. She was home.

Something cold and sharp suddenly touched her neck. She froze and turned slowly. Her smiled faded, she had expected Robin or one of the gang but instead a dark-haired man was glaring at her, his blade pressed softly at her throat. He couldn't hide the shock on his face.

"Saracen!" He exclaimed before quickly composing himself. "How did you find this place?" He added sharply. Djaq stared defiantly at him. "Well, I have other ways of making you talk, Saracen! Are you a spy? Who do you work for?"

Djaq spat at him outraged. This made him even angrier. "You are going to pay for that!" He shouted before collapsing backwards.

"She's with me." Will Scarlett stood over the man axe raised above the place where it had hit the man's head. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Djaq.

"Why did you go running off like that?" He murmured into her hair. Djaq pushed him back to face her, smiling at the concerned frown on his face.

"We were racing, remember? Anyway, you are the one who thought he knew the quickest way back here."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Djaq reached up and kissed the worry from Will's face.

"No, you saved me."

"Who is he? What is he doing here?" Djaq shuddered, a thousand possibilities were running through her head, none of them good.

"I don't know but I don't like it." Suddenly Djaq felt Will stiffened.

"What?" She whispered, then she heard it too, someone was quietly creeping up behind them. She looked at Will.

"Ready?" He breathed. She nodded slightly.

"One… Two… Three!" He shouted the last word as they spun around startling the large man. He tripped backwards falling over. Will hit him over the head with the handle of his axe as the man tried to unsheathe his sword. The man lay still, unconscious. Will had time to register the monk's habit he was wearing before he was knocked over, dirt filling his mouth.

Djaq was fighting furiously with a tall, blonde woman who had followed the large man into the camp. She was more skilled but the woman was quicker and more violent. The blonde pushed Djaq back before swiftly running towards Will and sweeping his legs out from under him. Djaq jumped at her, holding her down. The blonde viciously tried to break free from Djaq's grasp but the little Saracen twisted her arms up behind her back.

"Will!" She shouted. "Pass me that rope." He did, Djaq skillfully tied the girl's hands behind her back.

"Better tie them up too." She instructed Will as the dark haired man groaned, slowly regaining his consciousness. When all three were securely bond she turned to Will but her questions died on her lips as she saw how worried he looked.

"What are we going to do with them?" He said in Arabic. She shrugged; there were more important things on her mind.

"Where is Robin and the others?" She replied, the language slipping beautifully from her tongue. Will took her hand and gently squeezed it. They stood for a minute lost in their own little world, silently understanding each other's thoughts. Then the dark haired man cleared his throat…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The dark haired man cleared his throat.

"Oi, I suggest you untie us now and we may consider not killing you."

Will shot him a glare. "What do you think, love? After all they did attack us…" He said to Djaq.

"You broke into OUR camp!" He shouted. Will ignored him.

"If they are outlaws…"

"Of course we're outlaws!" The girl spat angrily.

"Then we could just give them to the Gisbourne, couldn't we? Let him deal with them in his own unpleasant way." He raised an eyebrow at Djaq, she understood; he was trying to scare them, get them to cooperate. A silence fell over the man and girl.

"Where have you been for the last six months?" The girl asked quietly, looking at the man worriedly.

He sat up straight. "My brother two months ago."

"What has your brother got to do with this?"

The dark haired man looked directly into Will's eyes unblinkingly, "My brother was Guy of Gisbourne."

Will and Djaq stared dumbly at him. "Brother… Gisbourne?" Will spluttered.

Djaq pulled Will across the room. He turned to her whispering urgently in Arabic. "He could be bluffing?"

"What benefit does that give him? If he is Gisbourne's brother than telling us he is dead does not protect him. I don't know what to think."

"I want to know why they're here and where the others are."

Archer looked at Kate, "Who are they?" He breathed.

"I don't know but I don't like them. Don't they know what's been happening here over the last year?"

"She's Saracen and there's only two other Englishmen I know that speak better Arabic than me. Robin was one of them and he is definitely not the other."

"What are they saying?"

"I can't really hear but they keep talking about the others. There are probably more of them."

"Little John and Much will be ten minutes tops."

"They better be. I suppose we'll have to keep these two from killing us before then."

"Easy," Kate said, slipping her dagger into his hand, "they forgot to search me." She winked.

Archer nodded, turning back to face Djaq and Will, who were deep in conversation. He whistled at them while gently cutting through the rope behind him. "I don't know who you think you are but you really had better let us go before our friends return."

"What, more of Gisbourne's siblings? Are you really proud to call that monster your brother? Do you fondly remember that filth?"

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

Archer lunged at Will, tackling him to the ground. He pressed Kate's dagger against Will's throat, his anger pushing it deeper into the flesh. Then he saw something resting on the pale skin. It couldn't be, he thought, before Djaq whacked him across the back causing him to roll off Will.

"What the hell is going on here!" Much's shrill voice echoed across the camp, silence fell over the camp as everyone turned to Little John's massive form in the entrance to camp and Much's smaller one in front of it. Everyone except Archer, that is, instead he launched himself at Will's neck grabbing the tag, the tag only worn by members of Robin Hood's gang.

"Where did you get this?" He hissed furiously. "Did you steal it?" He shouted, shaking Will violently. "Did you?"

"No you idiot," Will pushed Archer away, rubbing the thin, red line on his neck. "I made it!"

"What?" Archer and Kate said, simultaneously.

"Will! Djaq!" Little John bear hugged them both.

"When did you get here?" Much was grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Archer and Kate said, flatly…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"What?" Archer and Kate said, flatly.

"You know them?" Kate accused.

"Will Scarlett and Djaq, two of the greatest people in the world." John smiled at them before pulling Djaq into another back-breaking hug.

"What happened to you?" Much started fussing over their dirty appearance.

"They did." Will nodded at Archer, who lay dumbfounded on the floor, Kate, who was still tied up, and Tuck, who was still unconscious. "They attack us."

"You did what?" Much spun angrily around, losing his balance in the process.

"Hey, they were in our camp. We had no idea who they were." Kate defended. "And will someone please untied me."

"Sorry." Djaq mumbled as she cautiously cut loose the angry blonde. She smiled shyly at her making Kate feel a little foolish.

"It's okay." She said, equally embarrassed.

"Hold on. I have one question." John's loud voice silenced everyone. "What on earth have you done to Tuck?"

"Ha!" Much couldn't contain his laugh at the sight on the massive man lying unconscious.

"Oops." Will smiled guiltily. Archer shot him an accusing glare.

"Don't worry, I can wake him." Djaq pulled a small vial from her pocket and began waving it under Tuck's nose.

The last thing Tuck expected as he regained conscious was to see the unfamiliar face of a Saracen leaning over him holding something that smelt like manure in her hand and the grinning face of the man who knocked him out over her shoulder. He panicked and clumsily scrambled away from them as quickly as he could.

The rest of the outlaws burst out laughing at the sight of the usually calm, strong Tuck crawling as fast as he could on all fours away from Djaq. Tuck whipped around confused by the laughter.

"Huh?" The power of speech failing him as Will pulled him onto his feet.

"Easy there." Will grinned at the unsteady Tuck. "You alright mate?"

"Fine." Tuck muttered staring, disbelieving at Much's arm wrapped around Djaq's shoulders. "Emm…"

"Yeah," Archer interrupted him, "I think we all deserve an explanation."

Much rolled his eyes, "Didn't you know there used to be other members of the gang?"

"I was in the Middle East." Archer stated

"Africa." Tuck mumbled.

"We only ever heard about Robin Hood's gang, ever how many of you there were." Kate said defensively

"Well, Will was one of the first and we saved Djaq from being a slave to the Sheriff."

"Then she saved us." John beamed, scooping her into another bear hug.

"When we went to the Holy Land, these two decided they didn't want to come back. Apparently they prefer the company of pigeons." Much joked.

"But we came back." Will wrapped his arms around Djaq and placed a small kiss on her head. "Because we decided we couldn't get married without you guys and when we heard the Sheriff died we figured it was perfect time to return home. Anyway, there was only one person we wanted to marry us. Where is he by the way?"

Djaq started to panic as each one of the outlaws faces fell. "Where is Robin?" She looked around the camp. "Where's Allan?" She screamed…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Where's Allan?" She screamed.

"I'm sorry." Tuck watched as Djaq collapsed against Will.

Will clutched Djaq as she sobbed. "John?" The giant man shrank back. "What happened?"

"It's complicated…" Much said quietly.

"What happened?" Will roared at them. Much looked at Tuck, who shook his head slowly before turning away. He gently took Djaq hands and held them as he quietly began to explain everything from their arrival back in England to meeting Kate and Tuck, from Isabella and the Sheriff to rescuing Archer and becoming allies with Gisbourne, Allan's sacrifice, the final battle and saying goodbye to Robin. Throughout all of this Djaq and Will said nothing, and when Much was done, Will put his arms around Djaq and held her.

They sat locked in an embrace until Djaq, wiping tears from her eyes, broke it to give Much's hand a soft squeeze.

"Where?" He didn't need to ask what she was talking about. He led them from the camp, into a clearing hidden among the trees.

It was beautiful. The green sunlight streamed through the trees making dappled patterns on the ground. The sound of bird filled the air, each with their own individual song. Orange leaves covered the ground and huge tree trunks encircled the area, protecting it from the outside world. A single wooden cross stood in the middle of the clearing with pale stones covering the grave.

"We buried Robin and Guy in Locksley, beside their parents, but we thought Allan would prefer here." Djaq gave him a weak smile.

"It's beautiful. He would love it." She thought she could see tears in his eyes as he left.

They kneel beside the grave, Djaq lightly placed a hand on it.

"Goodbye, Allan A'Dale." She whispered. As she stood up, Will copied what she had done and put his hand on the warm stones.

"Goodbye, old friend."

They stood, side by side, in silence. It was a bittersweet place, so peaceful and beautiful; it reminded them of so much, so many memories but also of the person who now lay at their feet, at peace.

"What do we do now?" Will didn't look at Djaq when he asked the question and she didn't look at him as she answered.

"I don't know."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Will watched as Djaq slept restlessly in her old bunk, her eyes puffy from crying. Her grip on the thin sheet tightened and a worried expression crossed her face. Will loving pushed a strand of hair from her face and gently kissed her forehead before carefully creeping out of the camp.

Kate slipped from the camp, quietly making her way through the forest, she thought about Djaq and Will and what their return had done; how it had revived painful memories and feelings that she had thought she had buried deep enough never to be recovered.

She was startled as she entered the clearing and saw Will sat beside Allan's grave deep in thought. His head snapped up as he heard the branches crack under her feet but seeing her, he relaxed his defensive pose and resumed concentrating on the ground.

Kate sat on the other side of the unconsciously placing her hand on the stones as she stared at the place Allan's face would be, trying to picture it in her mind.

"What do you do," Will's voice broke the silence, "when everything you remember, everything you loved has changed and is gone?" The question sank like a stone between them, and Will sank back into silence.

"I loved him." Kate didn't know what made her say it, what had made her tell this stranger. "And I never told him. I never knew until it was too late."

Will looked intently at her, compassion etched on his face. "He'd have known. Allan would have."

"No he didn't. He saw me with Robin and I don't even know if it hurt him or if he felt anything, and now I feel guilty because I loved them both but I chose Robin." Kate couldn't stop the tears as they flooded from her eyes, it painful to finally admit these feelings. "I loved Allan but he infuriated me and at times I thought it was hate. The truth is we never know our true feelings until we've lost someone."

She bent down and kissed the warm stones. "I love you Allan A'Dale." Before standing up straight and rubbing the tears tracks from her face. "To answer your question, Djaq isn't gone."

At that moment a clang rang out across the forest.


End file.
